Uncounted postal votes from last week's elections have been 'found' in North Lincolnshire.

The fact that this has been described as a "genuine mistake" is no consolation to the hundreds of voters who have been disenfranchised, nor to the election candidates for whom these votes may have made a difference to the outcome. There needs to be a detailed inquiry into how this happened, and if blame can be attributed, appropriate action should be taken. Appalling.

A thorough investigation, and appropriate legal procedures to follow.

You would think it would be only fair if the election was to be declared void and the votes recounted.

I wonder if other postal votes get 'lost'...

I see Patel is on the rampage. Giving a speech at the Conservative democratic organisation, - another splinter group. How many are there? Love the way they throw in “Democratic”.

She is criticising Sunak of whom apparently Johnson was very (unprintably) rude.

Nobody is worried about 864 peoples' votes not being counted, then?

I'm finding this very strange after the hundreds (or even thousands) of words people wrote about the absolute necessity for in person voter ID imposed on the off chance that one or two people might be impersonated and their misused vote change the course of history (no, I made that last bit up 😄

But 800+ votes being left uncounted? Votes which could actually change the result of this election? Nah.. not interested...

MaizieD

You would think it would be only fair if the election was to be declared void and the votes recounted.

I wonder if other postal votes get 'lost'...

It should be. I wonder how many more were lost.

Would be interesting to know who the lost votes/voters had voted for.

The point is that the Tories are following the Trump republicans in trying to gerrymander the vote. This “lost” votes are all part and parcel of the whole thing.

The 'loss'of these votes should be investigated and the election result declared null and void. A similar thing happened in the local elections here, twice. The first time a collection of counted votes were discovered, 'misplaced' shortly before the final count and included.
The next election, two years later, a strong candidate suddenly dropped to bottom place halfway through the count and lost his place. An eagle-eyed scrutineer who had been following the votes during the evening insisted on a recount after the election, and a large bundle of votes for the losing candidate appeared, again 'misplaced.' He regained his seat as the recount was within the permitted time.
The people administering the actual voting process are the people who need scrutinising, as are the counters; these jobs are well paid and regarded as a perk by some local council employees.

MaizieD

Nobody is worried about 864 peoples' votes not being counted, then?

I'm finding this very strange after the hundreds (or even thousands) of words people wrote about the absolute necessity for in person voter ID imposed on the off chance that one or two people might be impersonated and their misused vote change the course of history (no, I made that last bit up 😄

But 800+ votes being left uncounted? Votes which could actually change the result of this election? Nah.. not interested...

12 hours (overnight) had elapsed between your OP and this one. Why do you assume nobody is worried? Of course it's very concerning, and a thorough investigation into how this happened is needed. There should be a mechanism whereby if these uncounted votes could change the result then the result is declared null and void. If they couldn't change the result then an investigation is still needed but the result can stand.

12 hours (overnight) had elapsed between your OP and this one. Why do you assume nobody is worried?

Sorry, Roisie51, but I've been on this site for long enough to know that if a subject really grabs peoples' interest it can garner multiple replies within an hour

Perhaps I should have thrown a few rape alarms in for good measure...

Of course this needs investigating in a calm and rational way without all the drum-banging and hype that surrounds and clouds so much of politics.

Sorry, Roisie51, but I've been on this site for long enough to know that if a subject really grabs peoples' interest it can garner multiple replies within an hour
Ok I'll bow to your superior knowledge. I just assumed that the timing of a post might influence the number of replies.

What's even more surprising is the lack of interest in the discovery at the Met of papers which related to the case of Daniel Morgan who was murdered in 1987. They were found in a locked cabinet on the same floor as the Commissioner's office and should have been handed over to an inquiry which was ordered by the government and reported in June 2021, damning the Metropolitan police as institutionally corrupt and for obstructing its inquiry.

It begs belief as to how so many postal votes could have been lost. It would be interesting to know the results of those votes, even though they cannot now be taken into account

This “lost” votes are all part and parcel of the whole thing.

Do you have evidence that it was the Tories who were responsible for the lost votes to try to gerrymander the election?

Whatever the reason, surely, as Maisie says, the result must be declared void. Is this happening?

The people administering the actual voting process are the people who need scrutinising, as are the counters; these jobs are well paid and regarded as a perk by some local council employees

If you mean the staff who work on election day. I am a poll clerk, the polls are open 7am-10pm. We are expected to be ready to set up by 6.30am and go home when all is finished, usually about 10.30pm for me.
If you work out the pay, it is about minimum wage.
The presiding officer earns more, they are responsible for collecting the ballot box beforehand, taking it back at night and generally having overall responsibility.

I have never worked for the council apart from this.

Yes, many council employees do work on election day at the poll stations, I assume they still get paid their normal salary and someone else will have to cover for their absence. I don’t know if they have to take a day’s annual leave, to me that would be reasonable.

A missed box containing postal votes would be the responsibility of council staff I assume, as it would have been received prior to election day, nothing to do with polling station staff.

I, and others, have said all along that postal votes could be far more vulnerable to fraud that in person voting.

Who knows how 800+ votes could possibly go missing or be overlooked, but the fact that it has happened, and, as eazybee pointed out, has happened on more than one occasion to her knowledge, makes me wonder just how easy it would be to affect a result by 'losing' a large number of postal votes. Much easier than it would be to arrange for the same number of fraudulent 'in person' votes.

I think I'd rather grit my teeth and put up with having to take voter ID to a polling station than risk my postal vote being 'mislaid'...

eazybee

^This “lost” votes are all part and parcel of the whole thing^.

Do you have evidence that it was the Tories who were responsible for the lost votes to try to gerrymander the election?

Nobody was accusing the tories of anything in connection with this 'loss' of a large number of postal votes.

The fact that requiring ID for in person voting makes people vulnerable to disenfranchisement is a different matter altogether.

This election with lost votes should be annuled. Failing to ensure all votes are included should be a criminal offence. Resources being wasted on voter ID should be applied to ensuring elections are properly run.

Nicenanny3

Would be interesting to know who the lost votes/voters had voted for.

Indeed- especially as the region had the most pro Brexit votes, didn't it?

The point is that the Tories are following the Trump republicans in trying to gerrymander the vote. This “lost” votes are all part and parcel of the whole thing.

That to me infers clearly that the lost votes were deliberately mislaid by the Tories, following Trump in trying to gerrymander the vote, (that is altering the boundaries legally to account for moving populations).
At the the two occasions I described the missing votes were discovered in bundles away from the tables where the counting took place, and the only people with access to the ballot papers were those doing the count.
Postal votes arrive separately and I have no knowledge as to who is responsible for them, where they are collected or who counts them.

eazybee

The 'loss'of these votes should be investigated and the election result declared null and void. A similar thing happened in the local elections here, twice. The first time a collection of counted votes were discovered, 'misplaced' shortly before the final count and included.
The next election, two years later, a strong candidate suddenly dropped to bottom place halfway through the count and lost his place. An eagle-eyed scrutineer who had been following the votes during the evening insisted on a recount after the election, and a large bundle of votes for the losing candidate appeared, again 'misplaced.' He regained his seat as the recount was within the permitted time.
The people administering the actual voting process are the people who need scrutinising, as are the counters; these jobs are well paid and regarded as a perk by some local council employees.

For goodness sakes, this has been handed over to the Electoral Commision. The right thing to do. Perhaps read the comments from the Council Leader who is horrified by this . Conspiracy theories are flying well around GN. As usual.

Don't exaggerate, Freya. There are no conspiracy theories flying round Gnet. Just one poster commenting that 'losing' votes is part of Trump style gerrymandering.